Festival of the Grimm
by Asura Boss
Summary: Every year, there is a night that lasts for seven where people celebrate the Huntsmen and Huntresses. Vampires love to feast on that night. So when Yang is turned into a vampire herself, can she separate bloodthirst from bloodlust? Contains slight gore, not much, though. Adorable old man named Jerald. Swearing. Ice flower. Jerald. Bumblebee. Did I mention Jerald? Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

** This story is particularly fun to write. This actually has influences from several sources, including InFAMOUS: Festival of Blood, Kingdoms of Amalur, and Infamous: Second Son. It is so fun to write Jerald's character! Just that cute old man who loves to talk about his days as a soldier...I think he's gonna be a recurring character. Anyways, enjoy!**

On a single night of the year, when the moon glowed brightest and loomed over the horizon as a single shattered eye watching the cities below, the people of Remnant celebrated the Night of the Grimm: a great, worldwide festival where people donned costumes of monsters and demons to scare away the Grimm spirits and beasts, lit pyres and burned effigies of the tyrants who wielded Grimm magics in the centuries before. It was always festive and most nearly all enjoyed it, for there was nothing better to do than party for entirety of the dusk that always fell upon Remnant on this day and lasted for seven.

Despite being worldwide, however, there was nowhere that This story celebrated it like the city of Vale. The streets were packed with people dressed both casually and in the likenesses of the Grimm bustling about, and at the very heart of the city, a great fire burned and Dust magicians performed tricks and shows all throughout the streets and avenues. Citizens gathered at intersections and seated themselves in portable bleachers to watch actors carry out plays based on epic, grand battles and harrowing, horrifying folk tales that always drew in massive crowds and roaring applause. At street corners, Huntsmen and Huntresses told tales of their encounters with the Grimm, drawing small circles of children every time. At regular intervals, men on the rooftops set off fireworks of orange and violet to mark each hour of the night.

Out of anybody in the city, the people who liked this day the most were the students of Beacon; it was one of the only times they were allowed to leave the academy without a curfew, and it was always fun to participate in the festival. They always carried their weapons with them as badges of status among the masses. They were always awed by those around them; they were the ones to be celebrated on this night, the Huntsmen and Huntresses, slayers of Grimm.

But the students of Beacon weren't the only ones wandering the streets. There were always the creatures of the night. Not quite Grimm and not quite human, these monsters of the dusk took on the forms of humans and blended among them, sometimes coaxing men and women into seclusion for a small midnight snack of blood and flesh. Tonight of all nights was perfect; there was no shortage of victims to feast upon and too many to notice a single disappearance in the night. And there was always the chance to multiply, to turn mortals into beasts.

They had a long while to do so, as well; their hunt had only just begun.

—

"I see you took off the bow for the night!"

Yang had to shout to be heard over the tumult of the crowd around her. She had been speaking to Blake, who had just joined her, Ruby and Weiss.

It was true. For the first time in a very long time, Blake had taken off her bow, revealing her feline ears to everyone around her. Yang wondered why.

"I took it off because nobody's really gonna tell if they're real or not, anyway," Blake said, answering Yang's unspoken question. "Is it just us?"

"I think so!" Ruby strained to get her voice loud enough to even hear herself over the noise, "We could probably get Jaune and Pyrrha or Sun and Neptune to tag along if we see them!"

"I'm wouldn't mind finding Neptune," Weiss interjected, "On the other hand, I could care less for his thieving friend."

Blake would have likely defended Sun, but it was true; he often stole things if he wanted them, including something as mundane as an apple and even stowed away on a ship because he didn't feel like buying a ticket that he could easily afford. All in all, it was pointless trying to defend a known thief by saying he wasn't a thief.

"Please don't say something like that to his face, Weiss," Blake snatched up a kebab from a small table as they passed it, thanking the elderly man who cooked them. He nodded and smiled, his old face wrinkly and weathered but his eyes glowed with happiness and absolutely blazed with life. His personality was reflected in his cooking, as well. Suddenly, Blake's eyes caught sight of something metallic at his side: a revolver with a knife blade combined with its barrel and a medal pinned to his lapel.

He was a Huntsman. Blake looked at the others, especially at Ruby, and said, "Hey, guys! This man's a Huntsman!"

Ruby whirled at lightning speed, saying, "Where?!" She saw him immediately and her expression brightened even more, and she joined Blake at the table. Yang and Weiss followed.

"You're a Huntsman?" Ruby beamed, and the man nodded, his smile still quite alive. He pulled out his gleaming silver revolver and set it on the table.

"Why, yes! Yes, I am, young lady!" He declared cheerfully, "How perceptive of your friend there, hehe!"

He looked over each of them, his gaze fixing on Ruby particularly. He laughed. "And I see you're all Huntresses in training, if I'm correct."

"It's true, sir," Weiss answered respectfully, and the man's gaze flicked to her. He raised a gray eyebrow.

"I believe you're the Schnee child, yes?" He turned and rotated the kebabs on the burner. "Tell me, why would someone with your wealth and sway choose this of all things as a profession?"

"It seemed far more interesting than sitting behind a desk filing paperwork, sir."

"Oh, you don't need to be so formal with me, lass," he turned the kebabs again and removed a few from the burner to put them in a stand, then replaced them with a few uncooked ones he had put together. "I've had enough of those in my lifetime, but I do think greetings are in order. My name is Jerald. It is good to meet you!"

He offered a hand, and each of the four girls promptly shook it, introducing themselves as they did so. Jerald grinned again.

"I don't suppose you girls would be willing to sit through a couple of my old stories as a Huntsman?" He offered, "I would be quite happy to oblige you if you might assist me at my stand here."

"Happily!" Ruby's face lit up like a fireworks display, and Blake shrugged, saying, "Sure, why not?" Weiss accepted the offer with a smile.

"Alright, then," Jerald chuckled, gesturing to them to come around the side of the table, "Come on over and have a seat. Got a few chairs set up out here, if you like."

"Aren't you coming, Yang?" Ruby asked her sister.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Yang glanced behind her, then back to Ruby, "I'm gonna go explore for a while, see what festivities are going on elsewhere and I'll come back in probably an hour or two, okay?"

"Okay. Stay safe!" Ruby called after her as she walked away.

"You expect too much of me!" Yang chuckled and disappeared into the crowd. Ruby frowned, but shrugged and moved to a seat beside Blake. Jerald grinned again and sluggishly sat down in a seat across from the three remaining girls, holstering his revolver.

"Alright, where to start..." He muttered to himself, stroking his chin with a ragged hand, and a flash of inspiration flickered over his ancient features. He pointed a finger to the sky and his face brightened. "Ah! I know!" He adjusted himself in his seat, making himself comfortable, and spoke.

"Back when I was a young lad..."

—

Yang wove in and out of the river of people, trying to get a good view of her surroundings and of the festivities all about the crowded street. She had decided that someone had needed to see what was going on throughout the city, and she figured she might as well get the exercise.

The crowd thinned out a little bit as they passed by a small makeshift museum filled with relics from past wars and memorabilia of former Huntsmen and Huntresses. She almost entered to see what interesting objects she might find in there when someone brushed past her. She felt an odd sensation wash over her, but it faded quickly, so she ignored it.

_ …Follow me…_

Yang turned her head to see the source of the noise that wasn't actually there. There was a man there, entering the alley nearby. He was well-dressed in a tailored tailcoat and matching pants, a pair of black dress shoes and a red ascot. His dark hair and striking features were only dulled in their intensity by his seemingly gray skin, but it might have just been an effect of the lighting. Still, a confident smile graced his features, and Yang couldn't help but be drawn to him like a moth to a lightbulb. He had pointed ears.

_ …Follow me…_

She obeyed, walking absentmindedly to follow the man out of the crowd and into the alley where he wandered, as if he were luring her. She ignored the growing sense of danger that screamed for her to resist and shoved it to the back of her mind to continue tailing the man.

She rounded the corner and there he was, looming over her, his long limbs straightened into a formal pose. He smiled again, and her heart skipped a beat.

"My, what a beautiful young lady," he said, bowing with a flourish of his hand, and she blushed. It was so strange; she was never the blushy-smiley shy girl, never, so the fact she was being one now would have disturbed her if she hadn't been so focused on the fluidity of his movement. There was something that was just so alien about him, something that made him unnatural, but she didn't try to pick it out. He moved to a position where Yang now stood between him and the wall. "I am Magnus. May I ask your name, young woman?"

"Yang," she blurted rudely, "My name is Yang." She hardly noticed him advancing on her; her gaze was set to his eyes, those hypnotic, strange eyes...

"Yang. What a beautiful name. Much to my taste for a girl with a beautiful face to have a name to match it."

Magnus was now leaning over Yang, who had her back against the wall, looking up into his face. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder while the opposite arm wrapped around the back of her head so that his other hand was on the opposite side of her head.

"And now that I think about it...I wonder how you taste."

He wrenched her head to the side, pushing her shoulder down, and descended. She gasped as his teeth pierced her neck, but she was quickly drained of energy, rendering her completely incapable of fighting back. The fist she had clenched fell slack at her side, her fingers relaxing, and after several moments, the fangs left her neck bloody and wounded. Magnus dropped her, and she collapsed on her side, weary and tired. What remained of her blood dribbled from the wounds on her neck in tiny amounts.

After a moment, Magnus spoke as if nothing happened. "Hmm...you taste of...what is it called...a banana split! It has been a long time since I have eaten one of those. Oh, such nostalgia you have brought me."

Yang felt as if she were hearing him through a wall. His voice sounded distant and obstructed, and her vision began to fail as she grew cold. She couldn't move, but she didn't really want to, anyway. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep through the pain in her neck...

"Hey!"

Another muffled voice, and what must have been hurried footsteps. Her eyes managed to open a sliver and found that Magnus had disappeared, replaced by a small, young girl of around her age. She was knelt beside Yang, touching her all over the place, checking her vitals, and probing the wounds on her neck.

As the girl did this, Yang felt a strange thirst wash over her, and a strength that wasn't exactly plentiful, but still there. She could hear a heartbeat. Hers? She didn't know. The thirst grew stronger, and a lust took over her body.

She sat up, surprising both herself and the young girl, and, before she could react, Yang grabbed her, violently pulled her head and shoulder apart, and sank her teeth into the girl's neck. She screamed in horror and pain, but quickly fell silent as her blood was leeched from her body. Newfound strength filled Yang, and a strange flavor like peppermint teased her senses, and she continued to drink greedily, as if addicted to the blood. The girl ceased her feeble struggling and sagged in Yang's grip.

Yang pulled her teeth from the girl's neck, primal satisfaction settling her hunger. She opened her eyes and witnessed her handiwork. The satisfaction turned to horror as she realized what she had done.

She killed this poor, innocent girl in a lust for blood.

Her horror didn't last long, either, as a strange, numb pain replaced it. It started in her teeth and jaw. Her mouth opened wider than she thought she could and then some, almost as if her jaw had unhinged altogether. Her canines began to elongate painfully and began to repurpose themselves to suit her new feeding abilities. Closing her mouth the moment she could, Yang looked at her hands as the pain shifted from her mouth to her ears. Her skin was ashen gray, almost white in the darkness of the alley. Her attention returned to her ears. Her hearing intensified as they grew longer and tapered into points until they stuck out almost past the back of her head. Her vision sharpened and the darkness of the alley didn't seem very dark anymore. She stood up as her limbs and torso lengthened some, and her muscles began to reform, making her body more slender and graceful as well as taller but not altering her appearance to the point where she was unrecognizable. The other transformations would have taken care of that one already.

As her breasts and hips filled out to fit proportionally to her new body, she knelt down beside the corpse of the girl whose blood she had taken and whispered, "I'm sorry." She needed to find Ruby and the others. Soon. She stood up again, almost falling off balance in the process. She must be at least half a foot taller now and unusually light as well. She moved to go back down the alleyway when a beating began to fill her ears, and she thought for a moment it was her heart. But then, as she grew closer to the crowd flowing past, the beating grew immensely louder and multiplied by thousands. She gasped and covered her sensitive ears, her brain feeling as if it was being beaten repeatedly by a hammer, but it did nothing against the barrage of noise.

She could hear their hearts beating. The blood thrumming through their veins. The laughing, joyous screaming, gleeful cries and whoops, pain, pain, pain, so much pain caused by the noise. Yang started to panic, hyperventilating, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks, a feeling in her gut that she would vomit. She fell to her knees, her hands still covering her ears. Dust, it hurt so much. She would do anything to make the pain go away.


	2. Chapter 2

** Here's a new chapter! Updates for this story will come slower than with Thorns of a Rose, so there won't be regular updates for this story. But don't let that keep you from enjoying the story. Without further ado, the Festival of Grimm continues!**

Jerald was in the middle of his most interesting story yet when Ruby's Scroll rang.

She quickly grabbed it, silenced it, and looked at the screen to see who was calling. Yang? Why was Yang calling? What could she possibly have gotten herself into this time? Ruby held it to her ear and said, "Hello?"

"R-Ruby..." Yang's voice said shakily over the phone, sounding agonized, and Ruby was immediately on alert. She sounded like she was in pain. Fearful, even. There were tears in her voice.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked despite the fact she knew Yang wasn't. Yang was the stronger one between the two of them; it would take a lot to reduce her to tears. She didn't even cry when Mom passed. What could possibly do this to her? What in Dust happened?

"Yes...I mean, no...I don't know. It hurts. I can hear them." Yang's jumbled speech transmitted in panicked whispers. "I can hear all of them."

"All of what?"

"Please..." Yang sobbed, her voice uneven, "Help me..."

The call suddenly cut out, and Ruby bolted to her feet. "Jerald, sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but my friends and I need to go."

"What? Why?" Blake asked indignantly, "I want to know how the story ends!"

Ruby was taken aback by Blake's outburst—Blake never got angry over anything—but she answered anyway. "I think Yang is hurt somewhere."

"Yang is your tall friend there, yes?" Jerald stood up and rotated the kebabs for the third time in twenty minutes. He glanced over his shoulder at the three Huntresses-in-training.

"Yes," Ruby answered with a nod. "She just called and she needs us. She sounded like she was crying. She kept telling me, "It hurts," or, "I can hear hem." I don't understand what it means but we need to find her. Blake, Weiss, c'mon. Maybe we can return later, Jerald, sir?"

"You're always welcome to come listen to this old man ramble, young lady," Jerald sat down in his chair beside the table, offering his hand to allow Ruby to give him a handshake. She accepted and shook his hand, and the three girl departed, bidding farewells to Jerald, and mixed back into the crowd.

"Do you even know where she is?" Weiss whined the moment the merged back into the mass of people moving along the street.

"She is...in an alley." Ruby was puzzled as she checked her Scroll's GPS locator. The screen said Yang was in an alley, nearby, too. Just a block or two away.

"That isn't good," Blake drew Gambol Shroud and cocked it, making sure the first round was loaded just in case, "She could be bleeding out or something. We need to hurry."

Ruby agreed with a curt nod and picked up the pace, her walk turning into a jog as she shoved apologetically through the crowd with her teammates on her heels.

—

They reached it in no time.

The crowd had dispersed and all but a few individuals still hung around the alley. The alley itself was dark, as was expected on a night like this, but the moonlight hit it in a strange angle, leaving the first fifty feet lit but the last hundred-fifty feet of it in total darkness, and a bend was up ahead. Ruby frowned and drew Crescent Rose, switching the scope for a thermal sight. It wasn't night vision, but she would easily see anything living inside.

"How about you let me take the lead?" Blake offered, drawing her katana again, then switching it to pistol form. Ruby shook her head.

"No. I'll take point, but you need to stay on your guard."

Blake nodded hesitantly, as if she wanted to disagree, but she submitted and Ruby turned back to the alley. She raised Crescent Rose to her shoulder and peered through the scope. She stalked toward the inky shadows with Blake behind her, and Weiss stayed behind, near the entrance of the alley.

As they entered the darkness, Ruby could see nothing, even with the scope, and she almost jumped out of her skin when Blake tapped her on the shoulder and whispered to her, "Stop." She did as she was told and felt Blake move past her, then heard her whisper, "There's blood. I smell it."

A hand slipped around hers, warm and oddly comforting in the tension of the moment, and Blake led her forward in the shadows. As they moved, they rounded a corner and they saw a single electric light fixed to the wall above an alcove. As they stalked cautiously into the next section of the alley, there was an odd shuffling, like bare feet on bricks, and whimpering. Crying. Sobbing.

"Yang? Is that you?" Ruby asked the darkness, and it answered in a frail voice, "Yes..."

"Where are you?" Blake asked, and Ruby heard the katana unfolding and the blade sheathing. They stepped into the light.

"B-before I come out, you have to promise me you won't freak out." Ruby recognized that tone. It was Yang's attempt to speak strongly and confidently, but she was failing miserably. Still, Ruby complied, saying, "We won't freak out. Promise."

There was a stir in the darkness, and a foot hesitantly entered the light, as if afraid it were going to be burned. A figure entered the light, their tall, slender form gracefully sweeping into the light. They had ashen gray skin without a single blemish. She had impressive bust and curves that matched perfectly to her height. The whites of her eyes were not white, but black, and each eye had a brightly glowing magenta ring that must have been an iris. She had long, pointed ears and long, thick, luscious, curly golden hair that billowed out from her scalp. A streak of silver decorated her bangs. Tears streamed down her cheeks and a red line descended from the corner of her mouth to her chin.

Blood.

"Yang?!" Ruby cried out, tearing her hand from Blake's. "Dust, what happened to you?!"

"You promised not to freak out!" Yang frowned, her eyes watering.

"I'm sorry!" Ruby took a deep breath and looked at her sister calmly. "I just...I wasn't expecting this."

Ruby went to take a step forward when Yang held out both hands and shouted, "No! Don't come closer!"

"Why?"

"I'll lose control. I can't do that, can't lose myself, or I'll never forgive myself."

"Lose control? What are you talking about? You aren't making any sense!"

"This!" Yang opened her mouth and pointed at the long fangs jutting out of the top and bottom of her mouth, replacing her canines completely. She looked less like the sister Ruby knew and more like some fear-inducing beastly hominid. Yang knew it, too; she could smell the fear.

"Stop looking at me like I'm a freak! I'm not!" Yang growled, but there was no anger in it, just sorrow and frustration. "I'm not!"

"We're not—"

"Yes, you are!" Yang was trembling now, quaking in fury, her face now soaked with tears. "That's the same face that Weiss had when she found out you were a fucking Faunus!"

Yang was huffing and puffing now, clearly scared, angered, disheartened by her transformation as well as Ruby and Blake. She was trying to be strong, but eventually she just gave up and collapsed to her knees and sobbed into her hands, wailing. Ruby rushed forward and knelt beside her sister, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her tight against her and letting her cry into her shoulder. She stroked the back of her head, and Yang embraced her with shuddering arms.

"I can't go out there again," she whimpered.

"Why?"

"I can hear their hearts beating and their blood rushing and it's so loud it hurts. I go near another person and I feel this need to...to feed. To feed on them. Drink their blood. Dust, I'm trying so hard not to bite you or Blake. I'm so hungry for blood."

"I don't care if you bite me," Ruby said, holding Yang at arm's length. "We share enough blood as it is. Shouldn't matter if we share a bit more."

Yang's strange new glowing eyes looked at her with something similar to lust and dread. Her tears were already drying up, and her sobs faded into mere snivels. "Really? You trust me to do that?"

Ruby looked back at Blake, who shook her head. Obviously, she wanted to keep Ruby safe, but the leader knew her sister needed help. She nodded to Blake, who knew exactly what Ruby wanted to do and sighed. She nodded hesitantly, and Ruby looked at Yang.

"Just take some, but not all of it. Enough to hold you over until we can figure something out."

Yang nodded and stood up, helping Ruby to her own feet, and looked down at her sister. "Are you sure? I don't know what it might do."

"You're my sister. I have to help you. It's what siblings do. I don't care what I have to do."

Yang nodded, a gleam in her eye, and whispered her thanks. Ruby took a deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing Yang to adjust her head and shoulder as needed, and braced herself.

The initial pain was the worst of it, like being stabbed with a knife and then having someone salt the wound, but after the initial pain was over, it wasn't too bad. She could feel her blood leaving her body through her neck with the help of Yang's fangs, but it didn't hurt. It just felt strange. A little bit of her strength left her, and with that, Yang pulled her fangs from her neck. She found herself wrapped in an embrace afterward, a little bit of blood trickling from the wound. "Thank you," Yang whispered, her chin resting on Ruby's shoulder.

"You're a Fae," Blake said, sheathing her katana. Ruby and Yang looked at her, the former taking her cape and pressing it against the bite marks on her neck.

"A Fae?" Ruby asked, "What is that?"

"A Fae is what you'd call a metahuman," Blake began to explain, "Like Faunus. There are a lot of different kinds of metahumans, like Fae, Faunus, elves, dwarves, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Looks like you're a Fae, but I don't understand how you turned into one."

"A guy led me into this alley about an hour ago and kinda seduced me," Yang seemed to be pained by the memory, "Then he bit me. Sucked me dry. I thought I was gonna die, but..." She turned her head toward the darkness behind her. Blake's eyes followed her gaze and nodded in understanding. Ruby didn't know what they were looking at.

"Well, sounds like you're definitely a Fae. Valdier Fae, to be exact."

"Valdier?"

"Old Remnant word for vampire."

Yang nodded wordlessly and spoke again. "Is there any way to cure it?"

"I don't know, but there's a library, I think, in Vacuo that has a lot of those old books that have those sorts of thing in them."

"Why just in Vacuo?"

"Vacuo teaches the older ways of combat," Blake explained, "That's why Pyrrha is so much more effective than most Valean or Atlasian Huntsmen or Huntresses. Vacuo is devoted to combat and knowledge. They have their Huntsman Academy, but they also have a college for mages and wizards. They have a library filled with books about magic and mythical creatures."

"But the mythical creatures aren't as mythical as we seem to think," Yang commented, and Blake continued.

"We could go to Vacuo and see if we can visit the college," Blake glanced into the shadows behind her, "They might have a way of reversing your transformation."

"But why would you do that?"

A male voice said, booming and loud, the source unknown. Yang seemed to recognize it, as her hair began to give off a white-hot glow and her glowing violet irises turned into an intense red. She pushed the dazed Ruby to Blake, who caught her and held her up, and then looked around for the source of the voice.

"Magnus!" Yang snarled, looking around and obviously finding nothing, "Show yourself!"

"Gladly."

Suddenly, a blur dropped into the light and slammed into the bricks between Blake and Yang.

"Weiss!" Yang cried, rushing to the heiress's side. She was unconscious and her neck had puncture wounds, like fangs had pierced her flesh.

"I hope you don't mind," Magnus said, swaggering into light from the shadows behind Yang, "I figured I would sample your friend before I gave her to you. She tastes like white chocolate and blueberries, by the way, not that you won't find out on your own."

Yang bolted upright, whirled and threw a punch that would have fallen short—Magnus was already smiling because she missed—when a fiery round from her gauntlet launched, slammed him in the chest and exploded. He went tumbling into the darkness, and Yang leapt after him. As she went to grab his lapel and pin him against the wall for a merciless barrage of punches and explosive rounds, he turned into a cloud of black smoke that swept around her and reformed into his Fae body, then delivered a kick into the small of her back, putting her on her hands and knees.

"Do you really think you can beat a master vampire, Fledgling?" Magnus turned to smoke and reappeared in front of Yang, still wearing his immaculate tailcoat and red ascot. He offered a hand to her, but she swatted it away and staggered to her feet, then lunged for another punch to his gut, but he turned to smoke and dashed just to Yang's side, where he grabbed her arm and threw her against the nearby wall. He sent a kick into her chest that winded her, and then grabbed her throat and held her up in the air.

"Do you truly believe a weak fledgling like you can beat me, a Valdier Fae older than the kingdoms themselves?" Magnus smoke-dashed around her and put another punishing kick in her back, launching her out of the alleyway and through the railing barring pedestrians from falling onto the cool night sand of the beach below. She hit the sand hard enough to wind her if she hadn't already been winded by Magnus just a moment ago. A cloud of dust obscured her vision, and she sat up, managing to catch her breath a moment before she heard a *piff* nearby.

"Why in Dust would you want to abandon this power I have granted you?" Magnus appeared in front of her as the dust cleared. He knelt in front of her, his narrow features lit by the moonlight beaming across the beach. "You could be a goddess among men, a mistress, a queen, with an army of fledglings under your control!"

"Because I don't want that!" Yang scrambled to her feet and threw a punch at Magnus, but he turned to smoke yet again and moved around her. She was ready for it. As he reformed behind her, she sent a kick into his groin. As he hunched over, she delivered an uppercut to his chin that sent him flying straight into the air. He righted himself in the air and dispersed into three smoke clouds that twirled around each other in a spiral as they hurtled toward the beach. When they hit, they exploded in a fiery blast that sent sand, dust, debris flying in every direction and knocking Yang down.

"You are a fool!" Magnus reformed in front of her as she lay against the wall. "You have the opportunity to take what you want, when you want, at the sacrifice of a few bystanders!"

"I won't kill an innocent person just because I want to stay alive!"

"You already have," Magnus said with a grin, and Yang went silent. He continued. "You are a pathetic excuse for a Valdier, but with my help, you could be great. I could give you power beyond your wildest imagination. Riches could be yours. Anything you want, at the snap of your fingers."

A gunshot rang out, and they both looked toward the nearby pier. Blake stood there, Gambol Shroud in hand, aimed at Magnus. Magnus grinned, leering at Blake. He smiled. Yang climbed to her feet grabbed for him, but he turned to smoke yet again and flew toward the Cat Faunus.

"No! Blake, look out!" Yang cried, and Blake started shooting at the smoke cloud, but it did no good as it drew closer and closer to her. It drew near, but instead of reforming as Magnus, it surrounded her.

"Blake!"

Yang found herself leaping to her feet and sprinting to her friend, disintegrating into a cloud of golden smoke.

Blake put both hands to her throat as the Magnus cloud entered her mouth. Yang's cloud body entered Blake's mouth right after Magnus, and Blake coughed violently.

Yang couldn't let him take her.

Not in a million years.

Blake fell to her knees in a coughing fit, wheezing painfully, her eyes watering as Yang and Magnus waged a battle within her lungs. She couldn't breathe. She was suffocating. Her blurry vision was rimmed with darkness now, and rapidly growing dimmer and dimmer. She collapsed on her back and passed out.


	3. Schnee's Losing Her Mind!

**Happy Halloween, guys! It's a very RWBY Halloween in this story, and I've decided, hey, monsters abound lately, eh? So why not update the story I have in which monsters are prominent creatures? Thus, the latest chapter of Festival of the Grimm is born! I think I got pretty creative with Weiss in this chapter, and I got to have Yang make some jokes I've been dying to hear her make! I also forgot I left this story on a cliffhanger, so I apologize for that. Anyway, without further ado, I give you the newest addition to Festival of the Grimm!**

Blake awakened to cloud of black smoke rushing out of her mouth, followed by golden smoke. She felt her muscles seizing, her back arching and her lungs burning. She went into a coughing fit again, her vision blurred by tears that flowed down her face. She felt arms wrap around her waist and head, held in a secure embrace, and muffled whispers breached her ears.

"What did you do to her?!" A voice reached her with half-clarity.

"I left a piece of myself inside her," another voice said. "I have cursed her. Should she ever see the light of day again, her body will slowly and painfully disintegrate from within. But if you join me, perhaps I can lift the curse..."

"Fuck you."

"She has one week, and in that one week, you can make the choice: either join me and cure her, or she dies. Your choice, fledgling."

With that, there was the sound of sand falling, and Blake hacked again. Her vision began to clear and her strength returned somewhat, enough for her to stir a little. An arm lifted her back and a hand lifted her head. She wheezed, coughed again, and managed to open her eyes enough to see the ashen white skin of an arm. She looked up to see the face of her friend.

"Where am I," Blake slurred in a gravelly, painful voice.

"We're on the beach," the other girl said, "I need to get you out of here."

"Are you alright?"

Blake recognized Ruby's voice and she glanced toward the brunette. She was carrying Weiss in her arms, the heiress looking a little worse for wear.

"Magnus put a curse on her!" Yang reported, lifting Blake and setting her on wobbling legs. Yang now towered over her, her vampire body astoundingly titanic compared to everyone else. Blake stumbled, but she righted herself enough to stand up straight.

"Curse?"

"Blake is gonna die in a week if we don't do something soon."

Yang was sounding a little panicked and she was constantly shifting from foot to foot. She was breathing hard, like she'd just run a sixty mile marathon.

"Are you okay, Yang?"

"No! You're cursed, Weiss is injured and I'm a thirsty vampire! Of course I'm not okay!" Yang snapped angrily, then took several slow, deep breaths to try and calm herself. Small sobs broke through the huffing, and she just looked pathetic and pitiful and angry and upset. Blake put her hands on Yang's shoulders—she had to reach up at a forty-five degree angle to do so—and said, "Hey. Look at me."

Yang focused on her through the tears welling in her eyes.

"We have a week to solve this problem. I'll be fine for now, and you will be, too. We'll get Weiss a doctor, and we'll go to Vacuo and check out the college. Okay?"

Yang sniveled. "I wish I just stayed with you guys."

"Hey, it's not your fault. We'll get through this."

Yang nodded submissively, and Blake gave her a hug to comfort her. Yang's long arms wrapped around her shoulders, the fledgling forcing herself to resist the oh-so-tempting allure of the blood thrumming beneath her friend's flesh.

"How about we find that doctor now?" Ruby suggested from her spot behind Blake. Blake agreed with a nod, and Yang, as was quickly becoming the usual, followed behind like a dog would its master.

"You're back! I wouldn't suppose you'd be willing to sit through more of my stories, eh? Heheheh!"

Jerald, his eternal cheer worn on his sleeve, laughed as Ruby and Blake approached him.

"We would love to, sir, but we need help. Medical help. Our friend has been injured."

"Oh? And you believe I might help? Heheh! You're right!"

"You're a medical professional, sir?" Blake asked in Ruby's stead.

"Does this weapon look like a warrior's?" Jerald chuckled as he drew his revolver, "Nope! This is the weapon of a medic! Heheheh!"

"So you can help us?"

"I sure can! Bring her on over."

Blake had been the one to fetch Weiss this time. Ruby was feeling lightheaded and dizzy, and Yang...Yang had the worst nervous breakdown of all time when they drew too close to the crowd.

Yang had screamed in agony when they drew close to the crowd, and she'd broken down into a panic attack. She'd begun to shed tears, covering her pointed ears with her hands and clenching her teeth. "Make it stop, make it stop, make it _sto-o-op_..." She had wailed, clearly thirsty once again. So Ruby, despite Blake's dislike of the act, allowed Yang to siphon from her. Though it didn't stop the noise, it was significantly lessened.

The crowd dissipated quickly, the celebrators having moved toward the center of the city, allowing Ruby and the others to reach Jerald quickly and painlessly.

"Hmm? Oh, dear. Is this your friend?" Jerald said, pointing to Yang.

"Yes, sir," Ruby said, "But she isn't the injured one. It's Weiss."

"Ah. Set her up here, if you would, please."

Blake nodded and placed Weiss's limp body atop the table Jerald had been using for his kebabs.

The elder set to work immediately, inspecting the girl with the eyes of an eagle and the wisdom of nearly a century reflected in his eyes.

"Oh, dear me," he said, losing his cheer suddenly, "It seems that your friend is...well..."

"What?" Yang asked with fear in her voice.

"She's...she seems to be...falling apart."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Her neck is...it seems to have developed an odd gap between the base of her neck and her skull. Strangely enough, even though that in itself is odd, her neck seems to have, er, disconnected from her head."

Ruby looked at Yang and Blake grimly.

"But even more odd is the fact that she's still _alive_."

"Wha-How?!" Blake exclaimed.

"I don't know. Let's check. Excuse me, miss. Miss!"

Weiss grumbled, having just woken up.

"Please, sit up for me."

Weiss sighed and did as she was told, rising into a sitting position. Or, at least, her body did.

Her head remained resting on the table, where it had been before, completely isolated from her body.

"Oh my...!" Ruby's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth to keep from screaming.

"_Dust_." Blake swore in disbelief.

"_Holy_..." Yang whispered.

Weiss's eyes opened, and she seemed puzzled to find that her head was still resting on the table.

"What the...I need some sleep or something..." Her severed head muttered to itself, but when she moved to get up, her hands enacted the movements, but in midair.

"What in Dust...?" Weiss's hands searched for her head atop her neck, but found nothing. "Wh-what the...where is...where is my head? Where is my _head_?!"

"Calm down, Miss Schnee," Jerald said, kneeling next to her head to see her at eye level, "I am going to show you something, but you must keep from panicking or it could make the situation worse. Okay?"

"O-okay."

Jerald picked up her head and rotated it to see her decapitated body, panicking on its own, acting without thought.

Or, rather, without wired thought. Now her body was being controlled from afar...by her severed head.

"Oh, my...!" Weiss's hand lifted up to cover a mouth that wasn't there and was instead three feet away, leaving her mouth hanging slack-jawed.

"So the legends ring true, then," Jerald said matter-of-factually.

"Legends? What legends?" Weiss asked as the other three girls just stared in disbelief while Jerald set her head on the table again.

"You've never heard them? They're about your family, you know. Perhaps your father wanted to hide the truth? Protect you? I'd have done the same if my daughter was cursed."

"_Cursed_?!"

"Yes. I remember when I was young, back when legends and myths were merely jokes to me and my friends. It was always believed and rumored that, upon a full moon night during the Festival of Grimm, the Schnees would lose their heads."

Weiss watched in horror, her hands acting as if her head were still attached to her neck.

"Now, I had always assumed that meant they went insane or something. I suppose that you Schnees literally lose your heads, like the Dullahans of legend."

"A Dullahan?"

"A Dullahan is basically a person who is no different from any other...except that his head can detach from his neck and cannot be killed with his brain intact."

"Sir," Ruby interjected urgently, "Can she still attach her head?"

"Oh, of course! In fact, you can just pull it off and put it back on at will. Now, don't expect me to know how, I'm just a doc, but you can figure it out, I'm sure. Heheh."

Weiss's eyes glanced at her body, and her arms acted of their own accord, lifting her head up and positioning it over her neck. She lowered it gently, and, hesitantly, took her hands off of her temples. She turned her neck, and her head rotated with it. She was utterly astonished.

"How do you know these things, sir?" Blake asked curiously, changing topic from Weiss's not-so-gruesome beheading.

"When you read lots of books, you sometimes cross many outlandish and unbelievable stories. I guess that, sometimes, they're true."

The old man lowered himself back into his chair.

"I think I'm done for the night. I am going to get some rest. Have a good time here at the festival, girls, heheheh!"

"Okay. Good night, Jerald, sir."

Jerald smiled and waved as the team departed, and he headed to the tent and inflatable mattress behind his table to rest for the night.

"So, you're losing your mind?"

Yang spoke for the first time in an hour as the group was returning to the Academy to prepare for a trip to Vacuo.

Weiss glared at her and growled, then promptly panicked as her head slid off her neck. She caught it and groaned, and Yang smiled, her incisors clearly visible in her grin.

"Nice to see you're smiling now, Yang," Blake said, then turned to Weiss and said, "You need to get your head on straight, Weiss."

Yang looked happily surprised to hear Blake of all people joking about Weiss's newfound condition.

"Don't make fun of me. I will remind you, nobody knows what you are yet, but I do," Weiss threatened as she set her head back atop her neck again, "And if the ridicule falls on me, I will not hesitate to sink my ship to kill your captain."

Blake rolled her eyes and returned to Yang, who was staring out the window and fidgeting nervously.

"Are you feeling...okay?" She asked her partner and friend.

"I...I start going through withdrawals if I go for more than a few minutes without blood, and I get hungry, but I really don't want to get set on that addiction."

Yang's fingers tapped against her arms agitatedly, and she seemed distracted and focused on something else.

"I wish I never let him influence me like that."

"Hey, it really isn't your fault," Blake said, looking over at Ruby briefly, seeing how Ruby was at another window, her hand covering her bite marks, then continued. "I've read books that have vampires in them. A lot of the time, vampires have the power to enthrall others by biting them and consuming enough of their blood. Other times, vampires just appear handsome or attractive enough that people just get hypnotized by them."

Yang stopped her fidgeting and looked down at her hands. "Have you ever killed someone?"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Of course I have. Every Huntress has to."

"I killed a girl. An _innocent_ girl. She was just trying to help me, and I killed her because she got too close. I wish she let me die, maybe then she'd be alive now."

"You couldn't help yourself. You needed the blood, and your body acted on instinct."

"Did I? I can't help but just replay it over and over again in my head and I just keep hearing that _crunch_ that her neck made and how satisfying it was when I just bled her dry. And how after I was done, I...I wanted more, and I wasn't quite satisfied yet. I feel it eating away at me. I have to feed or...or..."

Her hands were trembling, but whether it be from rage, sorrow or just pure lack of nourishment, it was unclear.

"Blake, can I ask something of you?"

Blake looked up at the now-towering behemoth that was her friend. "Yes. Anything."

"If I...if I ever succumb to that...that monster, please, please, you have to put a wooden stake through my heart."

"What?"

"I need you to promise me. If you can't promise me as a friend, then promise me as someone who can save hundreds of thousands of lives. But please, you _must_ promise me that you'll kill me if it comes down to that."

"Yang..."

"_Please_."

Blake nodded hesitantly, giving her best possible smile she could muster.

"I promise."

"Thank you," Yang said, returning to her fidgeting, "I can't stand the thought that I might kill a defenseless woman or even a child just to have a meal. Thank you. Really. That...that means a lot to me."

"No problem," Blake said, putting a hand on Yang's shoulder, "I'll let you know if it was as a friend or a savior."

Yang didn't respond that time, just stared emptily out into the night, lost in thought. Blake pursed her lips and turned to walk away, glanced back one more time, and sauntered away, mentally asking herself whether or not she could pull the trigger if or when the time came.


End file.
